Egg containers, generally referred to as egg cartons or boxes, are a well-known means for the transporting and storing of the fragile, thin-shelled foodstuff. Such egg cartons have traditionally been formed of molded paperboard pulp, or more recently an appropriate foamed synthetic resinous material.
Such cartons are relatively soft and intended to provide a cushioned support for the eggs. However, the known cartons at the same time require a substantial degree of care in storing or stacking the cartons for display, in packaging the cartons, as in a grocery bag, and in the general handling of the cartons.
Further, while the known cartons are, because of the inherent degree of flexure therein, able to accommodate eggs of differing sizes, for very large eggs, cartons of a different size are frequently required.
The known cartons commonly include two rows of six pockets each to accommodate a dozen eggs, with the pockets in the two rows being transversely aligned. For variety of reasons consumers have, in recent years, tended to purchase smaller amounts of eggs, normally six rather than the conventional twelve. Such reasons can vary from a desire for less cholesterol in the diet, a lack of appropriate storage space for a full dozen eggs, smaller families, etc. While various forms of the traditional cartons have included perforated lines or similar lines of weakness dividing the twelve-egg carton into two six-egg sections, such lines of weakness tend to inherently weaken the carton itself. More importantly, and as will be appreciated by any shopper, an attempt to split the carton into the two sections can lead to an actual breaking of one or more of the eggs. The split sections will also have a greater inherent weakness than the full carton.